The Marauders
by darKitty
Summary: Follow the marauders through their school years. From their first year to their last year. JamesxLily RemusxOC SiriusxOC r&r please.
1. Accepted to Hogwarts

DISCLAIMER: ALL THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS WHICH LOOK REMOTELY FAMILIAR BELONG SOLELY TO THE WONDERFUL J.K. ROWLING HOWEVER MUCH I WISH THEY WERE MY CREATIONS.

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"MUM, HAVE YOU SEEN MY… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" A shriek erupted from the pink and white painted door. A pretty eleven-year-old girl with striking red hair and startling green eyes burst out from the door with a tawny owl flying out behind her. She raced down the stairs and collapsed in a pile at the bottom of the steps in front of her fourteen-year-old teenage sister.

"Lily, are you alright?" The girl who had spoken had looks that contrasted drastically with her sister's. Instead of the beautiful red hair her younger sister had, she had dull black hair scraped into a ponytail. Her eyes were green, but a pale green, unlike the emerald green of Lily's eyes. She bent down to help Lily up. Lily looked up at her elder sister and gasped, "Petunia, behind you!" She turned around in time to see an owl flying straight at her head. She shrieked as it landed calmly on her shoulder and sunk its talons in.

Mr. Evans, the girls' father entered the room and stopped in shock at the sight of his daughters standing petrified in the middle of the room, a large owl on his elder daughter's shoulder. He reached a hand out tentatively and touched the owl. It patiently stuck a leg out. To Mr. Evans' surprise, there was a letter attached to the leg. He removed it gently. The owl gave a relieved sounding hoot and took off, digging its talons even deeper into Petunia's shoulder.

The two girls looked at each other in apprehension as their father scanned the what seemed like a letter in apparent and growing disbelief. He gave a disbelieving snort and was about to toss the letter into the fireplace when Lily stopped him. She took the letter from him and read through its contents, her sister peering over at it over her shoulder. Petunia laughed, "Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry? Wow, sis, you've been accepted as a _witch_ into this school! What kind of fool would think that we will fall for this? And look at this, there's even a signature by the 'headmaster'! C'mon sis, dump it into the fireplace and let's play a game of Monopoly."

"Wait a minute, sis. Which prankster would go to the trouble of making a LIST of books and a map to get to this _Diagon Alley_? Right, Daddy? Could we go and check it out please?" Lily turned to her father and pleaded. Her sister laughed and ruffled her sister's fiery red hair and turned to go back upstairs. Mr. Evans shrugged in response and went into the kitchen to get his wife to go along. Lily sped up the steps to her sister's room and knocked on the purple and black painted door. Her sister opened the door and grinned at her, "What's the matter? Daddy decided not to go instead? C'mon, I've already set up the monopoly board." Without a word, Lily grabbed her wrist and dragged her out the door and down the steps again.

"Wait, you guys actually believe this shit? Give me a break! I'm going back up to bed" Petunia turned to leave when she saw the disappointed look on her sister's face. "Alright alright, let's go ahead with it and get it over with. But I'm telling you, this _does _seem like a big and well-planned prank to me." Her sister's face split into a huge beam as she linked her arms with the older girl. She turned and yelled, "MUM! DAD! WE'RE READY!!"

"James, darling, come down for your breakfast!" A lady setting the dining table called, pouring her husband another cup of coffee as he nearly dozed off into his toast.

"You mean brunch, mum. I don't plan to eat lunch later. Dad's gonna play a game of Quidditch against me!" A cheeky voice corrected her. Its owner slid into a seat opposite his father as he dug into a bowl of cereal. Then a plate of pancakes. Then one or two muffins. And finally three glasses of orange juice down the hatch. His soft tousled jet black hair was messy whether just out of bed or in the middle of the day. He looked up to meet his mother's appalled look. Through gulps of orange juice he mumbled, "I'm only eleven, a very fast-growing boy, mum. I need loads and loads of food." His mother replied drily, "I can see that, honey. Now, don't start playing Quidditch straight after your er… brunch alright? It's bad for the…"

Her son replaced his empty glass on the table and trotted around the table to stop beside his father and tugged on his checkered shirt eagerly, "Dad, I'm done stop dozing off into your food. Race you to the pitch!" His father's eyes flew open at his son's words and he got up from the table, sprinting after James, waving his wand in the air and yelling, "ACCIO BROOMS!" as he went. Mrs. Potter stood at the dining table, staring after them, her mouth still opening and closing soundlessly. She shook her head and went back to clearing the table. Incoherently, she muttered, "_Boys_."

"MUM! MUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUMMUM!"

A black-headed figure barreled through the back door, leapt over a laundry basket filled to the brim with unwashed clothes, skidded over a small puddle of water on the floor to stop before his mother and wrap his arms around her waist ecstatically. His father came strolling in, a pleased expression on his handsome face, holding a letter in his hand. He waved it at his wife, "Guess what, Estelle?" His wife looked blank for a second, her hands still in a basin of soapy water and her son still gripping her waist in sheer joy. A look of recognition spread across her face when she saw the seal on the letter.

"OH GORDON! THAT'S… THAT'S… James, darling, you're going to Hogwarts!" She washed her hands clear of any soap suds before picking her son up and hugging him tightly. She grinned at her husband. Gordon Potter smiled at his son and wife before suggesting, "To Diagon Alley now?" James released his hold on his mother and skipped to the door.

Glaring impatiently at his parents who were still getting their coats, he chanted, "Hurry hurry hurry hurry…!!"

The eleven-year-old boy combed his sandy hair neatly and studied his reflection with his amber flecked with gold carefully. His blue shirt was uncreased and his jeans were ironed. His mother had asked him to dress properly and neatly to day for there was someone coming to visit. He nodded his approval towards his own attire and went downstairs where his parents were.

"Morning, Mum, Dad," He cringed at the last word. His father barely spared him a second glance as he went on scanning the newspapers. He looked at his mother uncertainly. She gave him a warm and reassuring smile. He glanced down at his toast, his appetite lost after his father's coldness towards him. Instead, he picked up his milk.

"Re-mus! Re-mus!" A small voice came from next to him as someone tugged repeatedly at his shirt sleeve. A five-year-old boy stared at him innocently out of wide brown eyes. The original color his eyes were before… before… Shrugging the memory off, he picked his younger brother up, settling him on his knees and fed him the toast. Finally, his father looked up and snapped, "Don't touch him!" He got up and grabbed his younger son away from Remus. "You listen to me, Richard. Don't you ever go near him again or I'll smack you buttocks till it hurts okay?" Richard looked at his elder brother inquiringly and when Remus nodded, he pouted, and nodded silently to his father.

"Good, have my toast and stop eating that… that… freak's food." He tried to pry the piece of toast Remus had given Richard from his son's fingers but he flatly refused to let go. Remus's eyes remained on his milk as he tried his best to blink back the tears threatening to fall. He felt soft hands upon his back as his mother wrapped her arms around him. There was a sound from the living room. They all got up and rushed there to see what was going on. To his surprise, Remus saw a wizard with long white hair and a snowy white beard dusting himself off before his fireplace. He had an air of regalness around him although his midnight blue robes sprinkled with silver stars was soot-streaked. Clearly, he was a wizard, just like his father.

"Professor Dumbledore!" His father called out heartily, crossing the room to shake the old man's hand. That was Professor Dumbledore? He had expected the visitor to enter from the front door, and not through the fireplace. The professor smiled at his parents, "Marcus! You still look as suave as ever. And Serene! Just as pretty as you were in Hogwarts. Now where is your son?"

Richard tottered out and gripped the end of the professor's long beard and gurgled in joy. Laughing, the nice wizard picked him up and carried him. "No, I meant the one who is going to attend my school. I have already made the arrangements needed for him. I just wanted to take a look at him." Remus stepped out tentatively and went right on staring at the carpet. It suddenly seemed so intriguing to him. A wrinkled hand lifted his chin. He found himself staring into a pair of bright, intelligent blue eyes. Professor Dumbledore said softly as he studied Remus carefully, "Ahh… As handsome as his father, of course. And clearly as intelligent as both his parents."

Remus risked a peek at his father, who had stiffened at the professor's first sentence. The professor had apparently noticed it too. His tone took on a sharp edge as he chided Marcus Lupin, "Marcus! Please remember that your son only ended up as a werewolf-"Remus whimpered. "-because you didn't keep an eye on your sons. If Remus hadn't shielded Richard with his own body when the werewolf attacked, Richard would have been the one undergoing the painful transformation every full moon. Now, here is the booklist for his new school year. Serene, I hope you will get his books and necessary items ready." Gently, he placed Richard into Remus's arms. With a last sharp glance at Mr. Lupin and a kind smile at Remus, he stepped into the fireplace and vanished in a burst of green flames.

Remus grinned, he had never felt so happy in his life after the werewolf attack.

The charming boy shot the lady behind the ice-cream counter a smile and immediately got an extra scoop of ice-cream on both cones free of charge. His mother stood outside holding the hand of his younger brother. Sirius Black was an extremely good looking boy even at the age of eleven and had first worked his charm on all the little girls at the playground at the age of five in order to get a few more extra turns on the swing. Right now, he handed his younger brother, Regulus, the other ice-cream cone as he devoured the one gripped tightly in his hand.

Amanda Black indicated that they should return home already. Sirius shrugged as he followed after his mother, not bothering to say a word until they were standing in front of the front door. The house-elf called Kreacher opened the door for them and bowed low till his forehead touched the ground. Sirius grimaced at the look of all the grime covering the tiny house-elf with bloodshot eyes. He shuddered and followed his mother to the kitchen where she dropped her purchases on the hue dining table.

Sirius had never understood why his house had to be so gigantic, when three quarters of the rooms in the house were barred up and he was forbidden to explore them when he was bored. He also never understood why the dining table was so huge when there were only four people eating at the table most of the time. Amanda sent her younger son off to wash his mouth clean of the chocolate-chip ice-cream smeared across it.

"Mum, I'm gonna go have a fly around the house if you don't mind." Sirius said breezily as he waltzed past her out the back door. Her perfectly arched eyebrows came together and she snapped, "SIRIUS BLACK! How many _times _must I tell you that the respectable people of the Black family must leave and enter the house through the FRONT DOOR? Get back here and leave through the front door instead." Sirius stopped before the back door and rolled his heart-melting smoky gray eyes before spinning around and striding out the front door.

"Ma'am, there was an owl letter come for the young master, ma'am." Another little house-elf by the name Anise piped up from her spot in the corner of the room. She was griping a letter with both hands as she made her way slowly towards Amanda. Sirius's mother huffed impatiently and snapped at the house-elf to hurry up. Anise scurried up and handed the letter to the lady of the house. She looked at the seal on the letter, "Hogwarts."

She took a silver letter opener in the shape of a sword with rubies in the hilt and opened it, looking through its contents. Waving the letter opener, Amanda commanded the elf absently, "Ask your young master to get his ass here right now." Anise squeaked and scampered out to the backyard where Sirius was hovering about in the air.

"Young master! Ma'am would like you to get your ass there right now," she called up to her master, squinting against the bright sunlight. He groaned and shouted back, "What is it now? Tell her I'm being suspended by the sun on a nice warm ray of light and I am unable to come down." She nodded and returned to convey the message to her ma'am.

It took just a minute for his mother to come bursting through the back door and muttering a spell to dump him in a pile before her. He widened his eyes in horror, "Mum! Did you just leave through the back door? That is so disrespectful to our Black fam-" He got cut off by his mother who dumped a letter before his face. His face turned blank for a moment before recognition flashed in his eyes.

He leapt to his feet and screamed, "I GOT ACCEPTED TO HOGWARTS? I GOT ACCEPTED TO HOGWARTS!" Amanda rolled her trademark smoky gray eyes and left her son screaming ecstatically in the backyard. She was about to enter from the back door again when she stopped and huffed under her breath and going around the house to the front door.


	2. The Train Ride

A/N: My apologies for not updating this story for counts 1 whole year, but after that first chapter, I kinda lost my next 2 chapters when my computer got a freaking virus and I had to reformat it. I got so pissed I didn't want to continue the story any longer but what the hey, inspiration struck me and here's your chapter 2:D  
DISCLAIMER: James is not mine. (Shucks) Remus is not mine. (Darnit.) Sirius is not mine. (Double shucks and darnit.) Peter is not mine. (Oh thank the Heavens and Hells.) Basically, Harry Potter and all the rest don't belong to me. You get the picture. 

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"Bye mum, dad, sis, I'll miss you!" Lily Evans hugged her family goodbye tearfully. She looked at her sister. Petunia shrugged, "I still can't believe this isn't a big crappy joke but whatever, enjoy yourself there." Lily gave her sister a huge hug before pulling back and after promising to write back, ran through the wall like all the others she had seen.  
She emerged onto a platform with a huge sign reading "Platform 9 ¾". Yea, this probably was the right place. Dragging her suitcase along with her, she walked towards the huge train tentatively, weaving in and out of the throngs of people. Her eyes filled up again when she saw a pretty, young mother hug her daughter goodbye. She looked back at the wall, hoping, just hoping that she could catch another glimpse of her family but she knew it was impossible.

"Hello, do you need a little help? You look lost." A cheerful voice to her right asked. Lily turned to see a girl with golden locks tumbling past her shoulders and sparkling violet eyes. Her flawless face had a friendly smile stretched across it as she looked at Lily expectantly. Lily nodded in relief, glad that someone had finally noticed how lost she looked (and felt).  
"C'mon, the first thing to do is to find a carriage to sit in. I'm Joy Sterling by the way," the girl took Lily's hand with one hand and clutched her own baggage with the other. "Look, there's one!" They made their way towards it eagerly, only to find that it was occupied. A girl with wild black curls pulled back into a ponytail and enchanting blue eyes was sitting opposite another girl with hair like a flowing river of honey and obsidian eyes. They were chatting and playing cards, but with an air as though they barely knew each other. Catching sight of Lily and Joy about to leave the carriage, the black haired girl called out, "Hey, we can always share this carriage! We don't bite." She grinned at the other occupant in the carriage. The girl nodded in agreement and scooted over so that Joy could sit down.  
Gratefully, the other two girls stuffed their luggage into the compartments overhead and sat down. The black haired girl broke the uncomfortable silence with an enthusiastic,

"What're your names?"

"I'm Lily Evans, and that's Joy Sterling," Lily began shyly. "Are we really going to a school to learn magic?"

"Oh! You must be a muggle-born!" The black haired girl laughed. "I'm Carlotta Vander, she's Dawn Steep. I think we're all first years."

Seeing Lily's confused look, Dawn explained, "Muggle means witches or wizards whose parents are neither witches nor wizards. They, well, can't do magic."

"But since you've been accepted to Hogwarts, it must mean that you have magic. These kinda things aren't rare, y'know. So you don't have to worry." Joy added, grinning at Lily. The four girls lapsed into silence again. Once again, Carlotta piped up, "Anyone wanna play Exploding Snap?"

"Huh? Wha…?" Lily stammered, sure she had heard wrongly. The other girls chuckled before hastening to explain to her the rules of the game. Soon, they were playing away like old friends, with squeals and giggles emitting from the carriage they were in.

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Remus was so absorbed in his book that he didn't notice a small-sized boy with brown hair and beady black eyes enter the carriage he was in. The small boy cleared his throat and said softly, "Hello, would you mind if… would you mind if I shared the carriage with you?" He got no response from the other sandy haired occupant. Trying again, he spoke louder, "EXCUSE ME!"

Remus jumped up from his seat in shock and dropped his book. "Dang!" He bent down to pick it up. Great, now he'd lost his page. Looking up, he met the worried eyes of his 'intruder'. Seeing Remus's confused look, the other boy repeated himself. Smiling, Remus gestured to the opposite seat, "Go ahead. I'm alone anyway. Sorry I was so spaced out just now. This is a really good book. I'm Remus Lupin. You are?"

"I'm Peter Pettigrew," the boy squeaked, settling himself into the opposite seat. "I'm alone too." They laughed together before lapsing back into silence. They sat like this for quite awhile.

Outside their carriage while they had been introducing themselves, two dashing young boys were glaring at each other, their black hair tousled. The one with glasses snapped, "Well if _you _hadn't been in my way, I wouldn't have banged into you, would I?"

"Look who's talking! _You _were the one who was in _my _way!" The other boy retorted angrily, his grey eyes flashing. They squared off, ignoring their scattered baggage. Hearing the din outside, Remus and Peter stuck their heads outside to take a look, only to result in narrowly missing flying fists. Remus peeked at the two fighting outside worriedly, the train was about to leave soon.

"Hey, erm, if you guys don't mind, you can share the room with me and Peter here." He shouted above the din they were making. They turned to stare at him then glance at each other. "Er… the train's going to leave soon you see. You'd fall over if you continue standing there." At this, the boys, immediately grabbed their things and entered the carriage.

"Eh, look, I'm sorry 'bout what happened just now. I admit it's my fault for not watching where I was going." The boy with the specs stuck out his hand uncertainly. "I'm James Potter."

"Apology accepted, though I think I was at fault too," the other boy shook his hand warmly. "I'm Sirius Black."

At this, James froze. His voice turned cold as he sneered, "A _Black _huh? One of those muggle-hating families."

"Look here, just because I was born into this stupid family doesn't mean I don't have a mind of my own okay! I have absolutely nothing against muggles and that should be the first thing you know!" Sirius snapped, his anger getting the better of him as he strode out of the carriage and slammed the door shut. In a minute's time, he returned, shouting, "And I'll have you know that I simply hate this family!"

The other three boys stared at the window pane which had cracked under the impact of his slam. Remus turned to James, a reproaching look on his face, "James, that was really horrible of you. It wasn't his fault that he was born into the Black family. There're things I wish I could change about myself too (A/N: You should know what I mean.) I think he was really nice and if he was a well and true Black he wouldn't have bothered giving you such a sincere apology earlier on. And…"

"Hold it, Professor. I get your point. What's your name again?"

"Remus Lupin."

"Alright, Professor Lupin." James nodded to the sandy-haired boy sitting next to him. He sat in brooding silence for a few minutes before getting up and walking out of the carriage, slamming the door as he went. He left Remus and Peter staring dejectedly at another long crack which had appeared on the window pane.

"Hey, Sirius," James mumbled, noticing him in an empty carriage. "I'm honestly and truly sorry for what I said just now and I take back every single word. I shouldn't have judged you so quickly and even if you get sorted into Slytherin or something, I still think you're pretty nice for a Black."

"Glad you got that into your brain, bud'," Sirius grinned, the anger in his grey eyes dissipating as his new friend offered yet another apology. "Buddies?"

"Buddies. By the way, Remus back there sure has a way with words."

"Remus?"

"Ah, the guy who was reading."

"Oh, right." Their voices faded as they made their way back to the carriage.

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Thousands of kids poured out of the carriages, the first years staring in awe at the silent black lake before them. Lily was standing with her new friends, clutching a half eaten chocolate frog in her hand. The others had urged her to buy Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and a couple of chocolate frogs when the tray lady went past, insisting that those were the best candy you could ever have.

"That lake is big!" Joy commented, sidling closer to Lily. "I wonder how we're going to cross it." Lily nodded in agreement.

"Over 'ere kids! First 'ears follow me!" A loud voice boomed out. Lily nearly fainted at the sight of the huge man with his wild mane of black curls and his huge bushy black beard.

"I'm 'agrid, kids. Glad to meet all of you."

"I hear that there's a huge squid living under the waters, ready to snatch any one of us anytime," a voice whispered into Lily's ears. The pretty red-head turned to see a rather good-looking boy with grey-blue eyes and messy black hair sniggering away. She rolled her eyes at his childishness and turned back to her friends.

Back with the guys, James was telling them about how his father had used to taunt the giant squid, hoping that it would appear just so he could look at it. Remus laughed, "But I thought it was all a rumor?"

"No, it's not! My grandmother said she'd seen it in her days as a student." Peter piped up, gazing at the others in earnest. Sirius shrugged. He didn't really care about giant squids, not when he was finally joining his favourite cousin in the renowned Hogwarts.

It took less than an hour for all the students to be sent warm and safe to the great hall where the first years were led to a separate table. Spying a tattered grey hat upon a stool on the stage, Carlotta leaned towards Dawn and whispered, "Is that the sorting hat?"

Receiving a nod in response, she grimaced, unsure as to whether or not she wanted an old old hat to be placed upon her head. Her train of thoughts was broken when Lily asked a question.

"What are we being sorted for?"

The other three girls took it upon themselves to tell her all about the different houses.

"There're four houses in Hogwarts, each named after one of the founding fathers (and mothers) of Hogwarts. The first house is Gryffindor, whose signature colors are scarlet and gold. The house emblematic animal is the lion and usually the students who enter it are courageous, chivalrous and bold. The house which is usually against it is Slytherin…"

"Slytherin's evil, enough said. Move on" Carlotta sang, much to the displeasure of Dawn who was in the midst of her explanation.

"As Dawn was saying, Slytherin's signature colors are silver and green and its emblematic animal is the serpent. It values ambition, cunning and resourcefulness. Although this may sound a little biased but most Slytherins usually turn out… um, bad." Joy continued.

"It's not being biased! It's true!" Carlotta cut in again, amusing Lily.

"So the next house is Hufflepuff, with the colors yellow and black and the badger for its emblematic animal. It is the most… giving house I'd put it because it values all the good qualities like hard work, loyalty, determination, patience, friendship and fairness. The last house is Ravenclaw. Its emblematic animal is the eagle and its colors are blue and bronze. It takes in students who are intelligent, knowledgeable and witty. Yea, that's about it." Dawn finished off without any interruptions from Carlotta this time.

Lily nodded in understanding as her friends explained everything to her. Turning her eyes to the stage, the sorting began…

A/N: I hoped you liked that. I can't get this screwed up website to spread my paragraphs! I promise I'll figure it out by the next chapter so you don't strain your eyes. Sorry! 


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